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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
This book started slow, but once they actually got to Siracusa everything changed and I couldn't put this book down. Basically, 2 unhappy couples go on vacation together and everything just implodes. Taylor and Snow might be the creepiest mother daughter duo in literary history. Those two seriously need mental help. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It would be a great beach read.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this as part of my project to read more contemporary fiction set in Italy. Early on, I was put off by the unlikeability of all four main characters (or even five, if you count the daughter). Determined to stick with it, I eventually became engrossed enough in the “what will happen in Siracusa?” thread to mostly ignore my distaste for the characters. (Also, only Taylor is a caricature; the others are just mildly antipathetic.) Ephron wields well the tease and tension of the secret, and I applaud her managing to interweave 4 different POV characters into one cohesive tale.
Very entertaining, quick summer read ~ or any other time of the year.
Thriller about two couples on vacation in Italy. There are issues within each couple unit and then between the couples and bigger issues with the one ten-year-old child involved in the story. And that is the creepiest part – this kid who is very well drawn to be either very special or very weird and spooky. Well written but kind of fizzles out at the end.
More like a 3.5
I loved the storyline and the setting in Italy. The narration of Michael's character was a bit annoying in the writing style but I loved the 4 different perspectives of the story.
I loved the storyline and the setting in Italy. The narration of Michael's character was a bit annoying in the writing style but I loved the 4 different perspectives of the story.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I bought this back in July of 2017 when I went on a book crawl in Manhattan with my friend. I got it from the independent book shop Three Lives & Company.
Recently I was watching a show on TV about Archimedes and how his inventions helped defend Siracusa from the Romans. So that is what prompted me to finally pick this up off my TBR.
I wasn't sure I was liking it at first because the characters are not very likable, but the mystery of, "how does this all go to pot?" kept me reading. In the end I really liked it and I was thinking about it for a few days afterward.
The pacing is good and I like the Rashomon-style. I just learned that that style of writing has a name. Each character has their own voice and their individual points of view sometimes made them unreliable narrators.
In the beginning I kept predicting the end and I constantly kept changing it. There is plenty of foreshadowing but it wasn't until the beginning of the last act that I guessed correctly.
So it frustrated me when we didn't get a point of view from Snow herself. But I think that was the point. Ephron wants to keep us in the dark about what really went down. She also wants to keep the mystery of Snow going. Is she a little sociopath pretending she's shy or is she really a coddled, naive little girl? Is she both?
I wondered why there was no follow up with the Italian police when my sister reminded me how incompetent they are (like with the stolen Caravaggio of St. Jerome.)
But it was aftermath of the events and how it effected (or didn't effect) the characters that really concludes the story and keeps the style and tone of it consistent.
4 out of 5 Scogli (Rocks).
Favorite Quotes:
Page 283: Eventually he lied to me because eventually a liar lies to everyone, that's the truth.
Page 253: "The Italians always ask that, if you leave anything, have you noticed? They expect you to clean your plate...A tragedy not to enjoy a meal..."
Page 128: Don't think I'm a snob, but Siracusa seemed like a tourist destination for people who were lower middle class. The Jersey Shore as opposed to Long Island Sound.
Recently I was watching a show on TV about Archimedes and how his inventions helped defend Siracusa from the Romans. So that is what prompted me to finally pick this up off my TBR.
I wasn't sure I was liking it at first because the characters are not very likable, but the mystery of, "how does this all go to pot?" kept me reading. In the end I really liked it and I was thinking about it for a few days afterward.
The pacing is good and I like the Rashomon-style. I just learned that that style of writing has a name. Each character has their own voice and their individual points of view sometimes made them unreliable narrators.
In the beginning I kept predicting the end and I constantly kept changing it. There is plenty of foreshadowing but it wasn't until the beginning of the last act that I guessed correctly.
So it frustrated me when we didn't get a point of view from Snow herself. But I think that was the point. Ephron wants to keep us in the dark about what really went down. She also wants to keep the mystery of Snow going. Is she a little sociopath pretending she's shy or is she really a coddled, naive little girl? Is she both?
I wondered why there was no follow up with the Italian police when my sister reminded me how incompetent they are (like with the stolen Caravaggio of St. Jerome.)
But it was aftermath of the events and how it effected (or didn't effect) the characters that really concludes the story and keeps the style and tone of it consistent.
4 out of 5 Scogli (Rocks).
Favorite Quotes:
Page 283: Eventually he lied to me because eventually a liar lies to everyone, that's the truth.
Page 253: "The Italians always ask that, if you leave anything, have you noticed? They expect you to clean your plate...A tragedy not to enjoy a meal..."
Page 128: Don't think I'm a snob, but Siracusa seemed like a tourist destination for people who were lower middle class. The Jersey Shore as opposed to Long Island Sound.
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes